‘Pretty Little Liars,’ Season 3, Episode 15, ‘Mona-Mania’: TV Recap

Is Mona back to her old tricks? Last week, Mona’s return to Rosewood was marred by disaster but, in tonight’s episode, she’s really beginning to settle in. Hanna, Emily, Aria and Spencer, however, are still concerned that after her stint in the psych ward, Mona hasn’t changed a bit.

The ladies are preparing to snoop through Harold’s belongings, but apparently are beaten to the punch by a hoodie assailant because the area appears to be cleaned out. The only thing left behind…a diary with an ominous note from A.

What happened to Harold?

It seems Mona is blaming Harold, the Inn Keeper/Janitor, for the explosion and alleges he has been stalking her at school. It looks like the scary inn keeper has lost his cleaning duties. However, the ladies don’t believe the tale, and Hanna thinks there’s more to the story.

Lucas fills in some holes.

“If you want to believe Mona is cured, then go ahead and sip the kool-aid,” Lucas tells Hanna later in the day after she outs him as the hooded man in the janitor’s room. Is Lucas a good guy or a bad guy? We’re not sure but Lucas reveals he was behind the explosion at the school in an effort to scare Mona off. Didn’t work.

Mona is settling into Rosewood High quite well. So well, in fact, she’s becoming involved in student activities and aiming for the top slot. (Watch your neck, Spencer.)

It seems Mona will be joining the same student activity group as Spencer and, out of left field, she wants to be captain. Last week’s bicycle accident means a vote-off results in a tie and the ladies will be forced to do a quiz off. Mona’s studying of the rules should have Spencer a little worried; in any case, a text from “A” advising Spencer to quit while she’s ahead might do the trick.

At Aria’s house, the ladies are frantically searching for the pages from the journal that Aria stuffed in one of her boots when her father, Byron, walks into the room. After a brief exchange, Aria concludes that her father might know more than he’s letting on.

Lucas definitely knows a lot more or is involved in a lot more of the activities taking place around town. The high schooler tells Hanna that he’s leaving Rosewood High in an effort to escape Mona’s clutches. To get Lucas to do her bidding, Mona has been threatening to reveal his side hustle of selling test answers, so he has decided to bow out of school to protect himself.

At the Montgomery household, Aria’s dad continues to reveal his creep factor during a dispute in the hallway with Meredith. (Hi Chad Lowe!)

On the way to a party, Paige freaks out and shares her difficulties coping after everything that has happened. When the ladies return to the car, they discover the tire of the car has been slashed. Who’s behind it all? In the shadows, the ladies spy the suspected slasher and, when he takes off, Emily follows in hot pursuit. But, it seems Toby has gotten away. (Have the ladies considered going to Target and looking at who buys the black sweatshirts? Could offer some clues.)

The Mona and Spencer three round Quiz Off begins. Spencer is off to a promising start. Will she win?

After the exchange between Meredith and Byron, Aria follows Meredith to a coffee shop to get answers. Meredith appears to open up about Byron, and discloses to Aria that she caught him rifling through her belongings. She also managed to get hands on the journal entries that disappeared from Aria’s boots earlier in the day. But, what’s most astonishing about the scene, as someone on Twitter wrote, “ wow you would never know Meredith was severely burned and almost died.” Did we forget about that?

Speaking about forgetfulness. During the quiz off, Spencer loses the lead after freezing up while delivering the winning answer. It looks like Mona is in charge.

The win fails to put Hanna in a good place. Hanna gives Mona a tongue lashing at the end of the quiz off. And, it leaves Spencer concerned because now the ladies might become a target of Mona’s without the guise of “A.”

With a cold approaching, Aria is sipping on concoction made by Meredith. The journal entries have been hidden, and the two ladies are discussing whether or not to keep it a secret. Flash to dad Byron packing up his briefcase and a hooded Mona making an entrance.